{"product_id":"midnight-in-vehicle-city-isbn-9780807039670","title":"Midnight in Vehicle City","description":"\u003cb\u003eWinner of the 2021 Midland Authors Book Award in History\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn a time of great inequality and a gutted middle class, the dramatic story of “the strike heard around the world” is a testament to what workers can gain when they stand up for their rights.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe tumultuous Flint sit-down strike of 1936-1937 was the birth of the United Auto Workers, which set the standard for wages in every industry. \u003ci\u003eMidnight in Vehicle City\u003c\/i\u003e tells the gripping story of how workers defeated General Motors, the largest industrial corporation in the world. Their victory ushered in the golden age of the American middle class and created a new kind of America, one in which every worker had a right to a share of the company’s wealth. The causes for which the strikers sat down—collective bargaining, secure retirement, better wages—enjoyed a half century of success. But now, the middle class is disappearing and economic inequality is at its highest since before the New Deal.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eJournalist and historian Edward McClelland brings the action-packed events of the strike back to life—through the voices of those who lived it. In vivid play-by-plays, McClelland narrates the dramatic scenes including of the takeovers of GM plants; violent showdowns between picketers and the police; Michigan governor Frank Murphy’s activation of the National Guard; the actions of the militaristic Women’s Emergency Brigade who carried billy clubs and vowed to protect strikers from police; and tense negotiations between labor leader John L. Lewis, GM chairman Alfred P. Sloan, and labor secretary Frances Perkins.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe epic tale of the strike and its lasting legacy shows why the middle class is one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century and will guide our understanding of what we will lose if we don’t revive it.INTRODUCTION\u003cbr\u003eVehicle City\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 1\u003cbr\u003eA Stranger in Town\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 2\u003cbr\u003eThe Perkins Boys\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 3\u003cbr\u003e“This Is Where the Fight Begins”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 4\u003cbr\u003eThe Siege\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 5\u003cbr\u003eThe Battle of the Running Bulls\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 6\u003cbr\u003eThe Women’s Emergency Brigade\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 7\u003cbr\u003e“General Motors Has Double-Crossed Us!”\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 8\u003cbr\u003eMiss Perkins and Mr. Sloan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 9\u003cbr\u003eChevy Four\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 10\u003cbr\u003eMurphy’s Law\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCHAPTER 11\u003cbr\u003eEvacuation Day\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eEpilogue\u003cbr\u003eAcknowledgments\u003cbr\u003eA Note on Sources\u003cbr\u003eNotes \u003cbr\u003ePhoto Credits\u003cbr\u003eIndex“[A] fascinating labor struggle. Readers interested in American labor and social history will find McClelland’s engagingly written, informative work a key to understanding the voices and roles of those who advocated for better working conditions for all working-class people.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“A spirited history of labor’s triumph.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eKirkus Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Students of labor history will relish this enthusiastic chronicle of a victory for ordinary workers.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“In \u003ci\u003eMidnight in Vehicle City\u003c\/i\u003e, Edward McClelland draws out such lessons from the past and offers them up to workers fighting new battles in long conflict.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eChicago Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e “[McClelland’s] chronicle of the strike is compelling.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Brings a fresh look to the seminal moment in Flint’s contribution to American history.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eEast Village Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Remarkably timely . . . Reads like a story of master tacticians fighting a battle.”\u003cbr\u003e—\u003ci\u003eChristian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“McClelland writes with grace and insight about one of the most consequential, world-shaking labor strikes of all time. What a gift! \u003ci\u003eMidnight in Vehicle City\u003c\/i\u003e gives us both precision and power in the telling of an astonishing story with so much to teach those of us today who are wrestling with inequality and exploitation in the twenty-first century.”\u003cbr\u003e—Anna Clark, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“\u003ci\u003eMidnight in Vehicle City\u003c\/i\u003e captures the Flint of today through the captivating story of the city’s past. McClelland reveals the toughness, determination, and even recklessness that fueled autoworkers and their families in 1936 as they took on a corporate giant, the military, and an unsympathetic press. If you ever wonder why current Flint residents haven’t given up, this book is an engaging reminder that fighting seemingly unwinnable battles is part of the city’s DNA.”\u003cbr\u003e—Gordon Young, author of \u003ci\u003eTeardown: Memoir of a Vanishing City\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“Lively and dramatic . . . from the shop floor to kitchen tables to furtively organized midnight meetings, McClelland paints wonderfully resonant portraits of individual workers . . . a book not just for students but also Walmart clerks, Amazon warehouse workers, and McDonald’s ‘associates,’ who will be inspired as they make their own history.”\u003cbr\u003e—Nelson Lichtenstein, author of \u003ci\u003eState of the Union: A Century of American Labor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“McClelland’s lively and lucid narrative of this central event in labor history is a timely reminder that when workers act together they can bring about significant change—not just for themselves but for society at large.”\u003cbr\u003e—Timothy Noah, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Great Divergence: America’s Growing Inequality Crisis and What We Can Do About It\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e“The battles were fought bitterly, often viciously, with rocks and bottles, blackjacks and hammers, against the brick-and-soot backdrop of America’s industrial cities in the 1930s. The war was for the dignity of the American worker; the tactic was the strike. . . . A vivid, granular drama rich with characters, scenes, and the soulful gravity of the worker’s fight for decency.”\u003cbr\u003e—David Giffels, author of \u003ci\u003eBarnstorming Ohio: To Understand America\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003eEdward McClelland\u003c\/b\u003e is a journalist, a historian, and an author born and raised in Lansing, Michigan. His work has been published in numerous places, including the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e, and the Chicago Reader, and on \u003ci\u003eSalon\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSlate\u003c\/i\u003e. He is the author of several books, including \u003ci\u003eYoung Mr. Obama: Chicago and the Making of a Black President\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eNothin’ but Blue Skies: The Heyday\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eHard Times and Hopes of America’s Industrial Heartland\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eHow to Speak Midwestern\u003c\/i\u003e. Connect with him online at edwardmcclelland.com and @TedMcClelland on Twitter.","brand":"Beacon Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46301140484325,"sku":"NP9780807039670","price":27.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780807039670.jpg?v=1767732652","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/midnight-in-vehicle-city-isbn-9780807039670","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}